


Red Lights

by LibraryMage



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Gen, Major Character Injury, No Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 07:15:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11435841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer."  "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights."(cw for car accident, major character injury, and joint trauma)





	Red Lights

**Author's Note:**

> Repost of a fic I originally posted on a different account

Donna just barely got to the phone in time to answer it.  As she picked up the receiver, she wrung more of the water out of her still-damp hair.

“Donna Moss,” she said.

“Miss Moss,” the woman on the other end of the line said.  “This is Lisa Ortiz from GW Hospital.  We have a patient in the emergency room who has you listed as his emergency contact.”

Donna froze up, mentally running through the list of possibilities for which of her friends was hurt.

“His name is Joshua Lyman,” she said, mispronouncing it as “Lee-man.”

“Is he okay?” Donna asked, not bothering to correct her.

“He was involved in a hit-and-run,” Ms. Ortiz explained.  “He’s in critical condition.”

“I’ll be right there,” Donna said.

She hung up the phone, grabbed her keys, and ran to her car.

She was halfway to the hospital when it happened.  The light ahead of her turned yellow and, seeing no other cars, she slammed her foot on the gas pedal.  The light changed to red seconds before she reached the intersection.

What happened next was a blur.  There was a screech of tires on pavement.  Someone leaned on their horn.  There was a crunch of metal on metal and the shrieking sound of breaking glass.  Donna’s car spun out, slamming sideways into the traffic light.

* * *

 

An hour later, Donna finally stood in the doorway of Josh’s hospital room.  She’d been taken to the hospital by ambulance where she was diagnosed with a mild concussion, had her dislocated shoulder put back into place, and was released from the ER.  By the time they’d cleared her, Josh’s condition had stabilized and he had been moved out of the ICU.

“Hey,” she said, gently knocking on the doorframe with the arm that wasn’t currently in a sling.

“What happened to you?” Josh asked.

“You remember when I said that if you were in an accident, I wouldn’t stop for red lights?” she asked him.

“I thought that was hyperbole,” Josh said.

“Guess not.”

Donna sat down in the chair next to Josh’s bed.  She reached out and took her friend’s hand.

“Are you okay?” Josh asked.

“I’m fine,” she said.  “Really.  How are you feeling?”

“I’m a lot better now,” he said, squeezing her fingers for a second before letting her hand go.

The two of them passed a few moments in comfortable, easy silence before Josh spoke again.

“Hey, Donna,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Next time, stop at the red lights.”

“Next time, look both ways before crossing the street,” she quipped.

“No promises,” Josh said.

“Then I won't make any, either.”


End file.
